Drier



R. C. MOORE Deca 8, 1931 DRIER Filed March 1, 1929 3 SheebsSheet 1 .Ewezzfon 1 NN R R. C. MOORE Dec. 8', 1931.

I DRIER Filed March 1, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR M' Mmwm,

ATTORNEY R. C. MOORE Dec. 8, 1931.

DRIER Filed March 1, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 fifmx Gi m;mwm

INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 8, 1931 PATENT OFFICE ICHARD C. MODE/13, 01 PAINESVILLE, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE COE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PAINESVILLE, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO DRIER Application. filed March 1,

This invention relates to a drier of the type known as a progressive drier, wherein the material to be dried is fed in at one end of the drier in a green or undried state, conveyed through the drying chamber, and delivered out of the opposite end of the drier in a dried or treated condition.

More particularly the invention relates to driers employed for drying thin sheet mateio "rial, such as veneers, wall board and other like products, the device being termed a veneer drier, although its use is not confined to drying this particular type of material. This invention is an improvement over the drier disposed iii-Patent No. 1,656,802, issued J anuary 17, 1928, to Arthur J. Vance.

The objects of the present invention are to'provide a drier which is sturdy, yet of simple design, one in'which simple and im proved supporting means is provided for the heating pipes, one wherein provision is made for readily and expeditiously cleaning the bottom of the drier, one wherein all of the parts are rigidly supported and braced, and

one Wherein'the enclosing housing for the drier is readily applied and facilitates access to the interior of the drier.

With the above, together with additional objects, later to become apparent, in view, one

specific form of the invention will now be particularly described and hereinafter spe cifically pointed out in the claims.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the drier. i

Figure 2 is an end view of a drier section taken substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1. and showing certain of the parts in section.

;Figure 3 a side elevational view of one of the drier sections showing one of the doors therefor in applied. position and the other door therefor removed.

Figures (l and 5 are sectional views taken '45 approximately on lines 4- 4 and 55, re-

spectively of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Figure 3. Y

Figure 7 is a sectional View taken on line r9 77 of Figure 2, and

1929. Serial No. 343,677.

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken approximately on line 8-8 of Figure 3.

The drier is in the form of an elongated housing .nd is made up of a plurality of drier sections 10, arranged end to end and each provided with a plurality of decks of conveyor rollers upon which the material is carried through the drier, together with heating elements for heating the interior of the drier and the material. This arrangement is 69 well understood and is clearly disclosed in the patent before mentioned, so that this brief description should suflice for the present.

he wet or receiving end of the drier comprises a receiving portion 11 having a plurality of longitudinally disposed decks of rollers 12, upon which the green or untreated veneer, or other material is adapted to be placed. These rollers are customarily driven by the same mechanism that drives the conveyor rollers in the drier so that the material placed upon the rollers 12 will be fed into the wet end of the drier. The opposite or dry end of the drier is provided with a cooling section 13 having a plurality of horizontally disposed decks of rollers 14 adapted to re ceive the veneered material after it has been treated in the drier. The usual practice is to place amultinle deck receiving table at the end of the cooling section, and the material is fed on to these stationary shelves. If the shelf is placed two or three inches below the rollers, the material will automatically pile up. which facilitates handling.

Preferably upon the top of the drier are mounted a pair of rotatable fans 15 operating uponthe same shaft with a drum 16 connccted by a belt 17 to a second drum 18, driven by a suitable motor. The outlets of the fan are connected by ducts 19 and 20 to an air heater 21, also preferably on the top of the drier 10, which serves to reheat the air or other drying medium before it is in troduced into the drier. The heater 21 is connected by branch air ducts to inlet manifolds 22, rigidly fixed to the side housing panels, while exhaust manifolds 23 communicate with the other end of the drier and with the fans 15. The air circulating system of the drier being fully set forth in the col pending application of Arthur J. Vance,

Serial No. 287,148, filed June 21, 1928, fur-- e not extend the entire length of the section but are arranged in short lengths adjacent each end thereof, the length of these channels being such as to accommodate any possible expansion or contraction of the drier. The frame of each section of the drier supports the conveyorrolls and heating elements, and comprises a pair of vertically extending angle members 27 arranged back to back, there being a pair of such members at each side of each end of each drier section. The angle members 27 are connected at their lower ends to a transversely extending channel member 28 which extends slightly beyond the side edges of the raised portion 24 of the foundation, but which is spaced upwardly thereof. A gusset plate 29 is the connecting medium between the angle members 27 and the channel member 28, this plate extending between the angle members 27, and being connected to the web of the transverse channel 28. It

should be understood that only oneof each pair of the angle members 27 extends to the bottom line of the channel member 28, the other terminating slightly above the top arm of such channel member, as clearly shown'in the lower right-hand portion of Fig. The outer ends of the gussets '29 are provided withan angle arm 30 arranged back to back withand secured to a vertically extending angle member 31, these last named angle members forming door. posts. The longer of each pair of angle members 27 is connected at its upper end by a transversely extending channel'member 32, with the corresponding angle of the otherpair of angles at that end of the drier section, while" the shorter of ,each pair of angle members 27 terminates I slrghtly-below such channel member, as

clearly shown at the upper right-hand portion ofFig. 3.

The channel member 32 extends transverselyof the drier and is of the same width as the channel member 28 at the bottom thereof, the upper ends of the door post-angles 31 extendingupwardly past the channel member 32, butsecured thereto by means of angle brackets 33 and angles" 34, the latter extending longitudinally of the drier section between the door posts on each side thereof. The angles 34 front each other and together with the upper arm of the channel 32 support thereon a corrugated sheet 35 on which are layers of insulating material 36, which is covered by a suitable cover 37. Intermediate the gusset plates 29 and the channel member 32, a plurality of reinforcing angle strips 38 connect the angles 27 and the angles 31, these strips having one end secured between the angles 27, as shown in Fig; 5, while its angle arm 39 is secured to the rear of the base, of the angle 31. Sheet metal strips 40 are arranged bet-ween the backs of the angles 27 at those points where there are no angle members 38 or gusset plates 29.

Carried by the vertical angle members 27 are roller journal bearing bars 41 extending longitudinally of the drier section on each side thereof between the angles27 and having lower openings wherein are supported, by means of roller bearings 42, the journals 43 of the lower conveyor rollers 44 of each deck of conveyor rollers. The bars 41 are also provided with slotted bearings 45 receiving the journals 46 of the upper conveyor rolls 47, which are thus permitted to rise and fall within definite limits. At one side of the frame the lower journals 43 are provided with sprocket wheels 48 on which runs a sprocket chain 48 the return portion of such chain being supported on idler rolls 49 carried in longitudinally extending channels 50 connected to the angle members 27. At the other side of the frame the journals 43 and 46 of the lower and upper rollers carry the gear wheels '51 which connect the upper and lower rollers, so that they rotate in unison. On each of the angle members 27 are a series of angle brackets 52 supportinglongitudinally extend around the outside of the angle members 27 into the next section of the drier. In this way the heating coils are so mounted that they need not be anchored upon the angles 53, but are yet positively held in their relative position in such a manner as not to interfere with expansion'or contraction of the drier frame. The lowermost heater coil 54, however, is supported by a plurality of angle members 58 extending longitudinally of the drier and supported upon angle mem bers '59 secured to the lower channel memfor in the gusset plates29. the side of the frame upon which the channel members cessed portion fitting over the rollers.

50 are arranged, and in vertical alignment therewith, a similar channel 60 is connected to the gussets 29 by angle brackets 61, such channel extending into the opening formed in the gussets. Vertically extending tie strips 62 are connected to the channels 50 and 60 adjacent each pair of rollers, and serve to more securely interconnect the roller supporting structure, as well as providing supporting bearings outwardly of the sprockets 48 for the ournals 4L3 of the rollers H.

The entire frame is supported upon rollers 63 arranged in the channel bar tracks 26, downwardly extending bracket members 64: being secured to the gussets' 29 and channel member 28, so as to have engagement with the rollers, such brackets being provided for this purpose on their lower edge with a re- A transversely extending channel member 65 is arranged intermediate the ends of each section of the drier, such channel member being connected at its opposite ends by means of an angle bracket, connected thereto and to another angle bracket 66, which is secured to the longitudinally extending angle 34. The angle bracket 66 extends laterally be yond the channel and forms a keeper for an upper latch 67 carried by the door 68, reference to which will later be made.

The angle door posts 31 which extend from the top of the drier downwardly are of such a length that their bottom ends extend below the upper surface of the raised portion 24: of the foundation, but terminate slightly above the upper surface of the step portions 25 thereof. On these step portions are secured longitudinally extending angle members 69 with which the lower end of the angles 31 cooperates. The angles 31 of adjoining sections are arranged back to back,

a sheet metal strip 7 0 being interposed therebetween. Extending across the end of the outwardly extending arms of the angles 31 and the end of the sheet metal strip 70 is a door post cover 71 which is suitably secured to the angles 31 by suitable means, such as angle brackets (not shown). The door post cover 71 extends from the extreme top of the drier to the lower end of the angles 31 and is provided along its vertical edges with inward offsets or rabbets 72, the purpose of which will later become apparent. Suitable hinge members 73 secured to the door post cover 71 are adapted to have operatively associated therewith cooperating hinge members 74 carried by the doors 68, the opposite vertical edges of the doors being suitably offset or rabbeted, as indicated at 75, to form with the door post cover and the adjacent door a tight closure, sulficient space between such parts being provided, however, to allow for expan sion and contraction of the drier. The doors of each section are held in closed position by latches, such'as the latches 67 and 76, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, thus affording ready and convenient access to the interior of each section of the drier.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the heat will be retained in the drier, since the door posts and the doors of each section extend from the top of the drier below the level of the raised portion 24 of the foundation, where they abut the angles 69 arranged on the steps 25. The doors being hinged doors provide ready access to the interior of the drier sections for repairs, or for cleaning out the same. In the earlier form of drier disclosed in the previously mentioned Patent No. 1,656,802, a pit was provided between the foundation piers, so that waste material and dirt might collect therein. This material was removed from the pit with difiiculty, whereas in the present form the waste material or dirt may be cleaned from each drier section simply by raking or sweeping the same off the raised portion 24 of the foundation and out of the doors.

The entire frame structure of the present form is stronger and the parts thereof tied in with each other so as to make a substantially unitary structure, this result being obtained by the extension of the top and bottom transverse channels 28 and 32 beyond the angles 27 to the door post angles 31, the provision of the gusset plates 29 and angle strips 38 between the channel 28, angles 27 and angles 31, and the provision of the tie strips 62 between the channel 60 and the channels 50, such strips also forming additional bearing supports for the roller journals 43. Extending the return bends of the heater coils around the angles 27 eliminates the necessity of using securing members for holding the same in position upon the angles 53. The above advantages are a few of the advantages resulting from the present form of construction, it being understood that there are further ones which do not need to be pointed out specifically herein.

The invention is susceptible of various modifications and adaptations within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a drier of the class described, a foundation having a central raised portion, transverse frame members, and vertical. frame members I connected. with the transverse frame members adjacent each end the latter and extending below such members and the top of thc raised portion of the foundation.

, 2. In a drier of the class described, a foundation having a central raised portion and longitudinally extending step portions on each side of the raised portion, transverse frame members, and vertical rame members connected with the transverseframe'mem bers adjacent each end of the latter and extending below such members into the step portions of the foundation.

3. In a drier of the class described, a foundation having a central raised portion and longitudinally extending step portions on each side of the raised portion, longitudinally extending members arranged on each of said step portions of. the foundation, transverse frame members, and vertical frame members connected with the transverse frame members and extending below the same and the top of the raised portion of the foundation into engagement with the members arranged on the step portions thereof.

' 4. In a drier of the class described, a founsignature.

dation, vertical frame members, and transverse frame members extending therebe tween, said transverse frame members corresponding in length to the transverse spacing-of the vertical'frame members and connected thereto intermediate the ends of such vertical members, said vertical members extending below the top of the foundation.

5. In a drier of the class described, vertical frame members, a plurality of decks of conveyor rollers supported'thereby, certain of said. rollers having their journals extending beyond said frame members on one side of the drier and provided with sprockets adapted to be operatively associated with a drive chain, longitudinally extending mem 'bers arranged adjacent each sprocket and connected to the adjacent vertical members, and means interconnecting said longitudinally' extending members and forming a bearing outwardly of the sprockets for the extended roller'journals.

6. In a drier of the classdescribed, vertical frame members adapted to support a conveyor, a longitudinally extending angle connected with said vertical frame members I lengths of trackWays on said raised portion 7 of the foundation adjacent each side thereof and arranged in transversely aligned cooper ating pairs, transverse frame members extending between each pair of lengths of trackways and spaced upwardly therefrom and from the raised portion of the founda-- tion, rollers arranged in each of said lengths of trackways, and brackets associated with RICHARD o. MOORE.

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